Prologue
TEXT
Hey u I’m hanging out for Friday. My place? J xx
Yep C U @ 3.30. Zo ☺
It never ceases to amaze me how I just don’t get sick of seeing my BFF. Half the time we have nothing exciting to say to each other. We’ve already caught up on Facebook and old fashioned texts daily. But once we have a wine in our hands (which takes no time at all, since screw tops) and have decided if we’re being good and only having half the block of cheese, or buggering it and eating it all, we always find something to talk about.
“So I start City to Bay training this week with the gym” Zoe says
“Yeah I heard them say that in class – Is Jed taking it?”
“Of course – why else would I be doing it, in cold, rain, wind and hail otherwise? Why is it that our weekends are shit and our weekdays are always perfectly sunny and mild in the winter?”
“As long as we have our wine Zo, we’ll survive to spring”
We chink our glasses and smile at each other. I think to myself how lucky I am to have such an amazing friend. We think like each other, enjoy the same things, we have one child each who LOVE spending time with each other and we can share clothes – it’s like having double the wardrobe. What could be better than that?
“So are you going to the Gym Saturday?” Zoe asks
“Yes I’ll have to take Dash though because Troy has decided to play Football. What thirty-nine year old actually thinks he can play footy? If only he had a ‘real’ doctor that could advise him against it?” I said in jest.
Zoe finished med school in her twenties but because Troy has never seen her in a ‘real’ medical environment, and has known her for as long as I have, he has never really accepted she’s real, in doctor terms. It’s been a long standing joke.
“ummmm” Zoe mused. “If only you could find a good one locally, but you know what men are like. They have to have an arm or a leg falling off before they’ll see a doctor – sorry I can’t recommend anyone I’d trust”. Zoe winks at me and we take another sip of our Dog Ridge McLaren Vale Merlot.
We sit in silence for a while, occasionally slicing some Mersey Valley Sweet Chilli cheese to go with our Grain Waves. Who am I kidding, it’s by no means occasional, more like often, frequent – ok, we hardly come up for air. But the silence is not uncomfortable. We’ve discussed our weight goals for the week, where we let ourselves down with our diet (I know what you’re thinking but Friday’s do absolutely not count, and just for the record, neither does any red wine consumption), our mothering, our wife skills and our work disasters – the whole guilt venting session is over and all that’s left to discuss is what we’re wearing on our next training session with Jed. Zoe has decided to go with a number I’ve thought makes her look hot, her red skin hugging tank with her equally skin hugging black bike pants. I am wearing my pink tank hoodie with my black short shorts that have matching pink stripes down the sides. This is important because we both have the hots for Jed. Don’t get the wrong idea. We LOVE our husbands, but no-one said you can’t look at the menu, and it’s kind of fun competing with each other for our trainers attention. We like to think it makes us fitter, stronger, more committed to our health!
Today Zo is wearing a stunning black halter neck tank with her white skinny jeans. I mean who can wear white skinny jeans and still look hot? Zo can that’s who. I’m wearing my black tights and a green tunic – I’m having a fat day. I’m 52.5 kilos and you might think that’s tiny but I am only 152 cm so the 2.5 gives me a muffin top. Jed say’s if I just stopped drinking the wine every night it would fall off. But what does he know? He’s twenty-two, lives with his mum and his job revolves around working out and keeping fit all day long. What reason in hell would he need to drink? That reminds me, breaking the silence I turn to Zoe and say;
“did I tell you that someone at the gym asked me the other day if I was pregnant?”
“what? – You don’t look pregnant”
“she said ‘I’m just gonna take the risk and ask – are you pregnant?’ and I gave her the death stare and said ‘no and that’s a risk you should NEVER take’”
“If she thought it was going to be a risk why did she take it?”
“fucked if I know”
“who was it?”
“Some old Italian, then started telling me how everyone thinks she’s her one year old daughter’s grandmother. So then I figured she was trying to tell me I look old AND fat”
“Jay, it was probably a back handed compliment. I mean you have fucking awesome legs, a hot butt, great toned arms, she probably thought your muffin top couldn’t possibly be fat, it had to be baby”
That’s why I love Zo. She can make me feel better even when she’s just insulted me with the truth. What a great friend.
God I love our Fridays
“Mum – Dash just told me she wasn’t going to be my friend anymore!”
That’s Harrison – Zo’s son
“Well I guess it’s time to go anyway” Zoe said, the cheese was finished, we notice as we eye the cheese board.
“Same time next week Jaymee?”
“Absolutely” I reply “See you at your place”